(HealthDay News) – For patients with type 1 diabetes, addition of 1.2 and 1.8 mg of liraglutide to insulin over a 12-week period is associated with a modest reduction in weekly mean glucose levels, according to a study published in Diabetes Care.

Nitesh D. Kuhadiya, MD, MPH, from State University of New York at Buffalo, and colleagues randomized 72 patients with type 1 diabetes to receive placebo (18 patients) and 0.6, 1.2, and 1.8 mg of liraglutide (54 patients) daily for 12 weeks.

The researchers observed a significant mean weekly reduction in average blood glucose in the 1.2- and 1.8-mg groups (P<.0001); the average blood glucose remained unchanged in the 0.6-mg and placebo groups. Hemoglobin A1c was reduced significantly in the 1.2-mg group (P<.01), but not in the 1.8- or 0.6-mg groups compared with placebo. In the 1.2-mg group only, glycemic variability was significantly reduced (P<.01). In the 1.2-mg and 1.8-mg groups, total daily insulin dose decreased significantly (P<.05). Weight loss was 5 ± 1 kg in the 1.2- and 1.8-mg groups (P<.05) and 2.7 ± 0.6 kg (P<.01) in the 0.6-mg group, compared with none in the placebo group. Higher gastrointestinal adverse events were seen with liraglutide (P<.05).

“These findings do not justify the use of liraglutide in all patients with type 1 diabetes,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk, which manufactures liraglutide and funded the study.